Supporting Documents

For applications to the Student route, most applicants are asked to provide:

• Passport

• CAS Statement (see below)

• Financial Evidence (see below)

Depending on your circumstances, you may also be asked to provide:

• An ATAS Certificate (if required for your course; you will have needed it to get your CAS)

• A valid TB Test Certificate (click the link for further information, to see if you require one and where you can book them)

If you are under 18 years old at the time of application, you will also need:

• A consent letter, signed by a parent or legal guardian

• Proof of your relationship to them (i.e. birth certificate, adoption certificate, or household register)

If you are applying to extend your immigration permission from inside the UK, you will also be asked to provide:

• Your current BRP/visa document (if you have one)

Below, we are going to explain some of these documents in more detail.

You must have a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) statement to apply for your visa. A CAS statement confirms that the University is sponsoring your visa and contains a lot of information you will need to use in your visa application.

Your CAS will be valid for 6 months and you can only use a CAS once. If you apply using an expired or used CAS, your visa will be refused.

You will first receive a CAS preview, which you will need to check is correct before you will be given your official CAS and unique CAS number.

Receiving your CAS

• If you are starting a new course you will receive your CAS preview and final CAS by email from the Admissions team. You will only be able to receive your CAS after you have accepted your unconditional offer and have met all other admission requirements.

• If you are applying for a new visa to complete your current course, please contact studentlife.international@uea.ac.uk for advice on how you can request a CAS.

• Before making your visa application, you must check the “other evidence” section of your CAS, as this may detail documents that you need to provide as part of your visa application. These must be original documents that have been officially translated if they are not in English. The UKCISA website has a section about official translations on this webpage under ‘Evidence’.

• The ‘Your CAS Explained’ document you receive alongside your CAS statement will outline the information included in your CAS statement.

• If you have any questions about your CAS preview, or if you notice an error, please reply to the emails you have received about your CAS before you make your visa application.

Please keep your CAS in a safe place, as you may need information from this in the future.

The Home Office have strict financial requirements that you must meet to be able to get a Student visa. Failure to have the required funds or to meet the requirements will result in your visa application being refused.

If you are applying from outside the UK, or have not been in the UK for 12 months yet, you will need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to pay:

• Any outstanding tuition fees, as shown on your CAS.

• Your living costs whilst in the UK

Living Costs 

To demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to cover your living costs whilst studying at UEA, you must show £1,023 per month for each month of study, up to a maximum of 9 months (£9,207).

Bank Statements

Most students will demonstrate that they have sufficient funds for their UK studies by providing a bank statement. You can supply more than one, if you wish. The statement(s) will need to show total funds equal to any outstanding tuition fees (as stated on your CAS) plus living cost funds (as above). The statement should contain the following information:

• Your full name 

• Account number 

• Date of issue 

• Bank name and logo 

• Transactions and the closing balance on the account

The required funds must be in the account for a minimum of 28 consecutive days and the account balance must not drop below this figure for that period. The bank statement must also be no older than 31 days old at the date you submit your application.

You may also use a bank statement from accounts in the name of your parent or legal guardian. If you use this, the bank statement must meet the above criteria, but you must also provide a signed letter of consent from your parent/guardian that confirms the relationship and that they consent to the funds being used for your study, as well as evidence of the relationship between you and the parent/guardian. Evidence to prove the relationship includes:

• Your birth certificate (or copy) that includes the name of the parent 

• Certificate of adoption (or copy) that includes the name of the parent 

• A court document (or copy) showing the name of your legal guardian

Letter of Official Financial Sponsorship 

Where you are in receipt of financial sponsorship and wish to show evidence of this, you must provide a letter from one of the following types of organisation/body:

• Your National Government 

• British Council 

• International Organisation 

• International Company 

• University or Independent School 

• UK Government sponsored programme

We recommend that the letter confirming your sponsorship contains at least the following information:

• Confirmation that you are the recipient of the funding 

• Amount of sponsorship, either in cash terms, or confirmation that the financial sponsor will cover all course costs and living expenses required 

• Date of sponsorship and duration 

• Name and contact details of the official financial sponsor

If the amount of sponsorship stated in the letter does not cover the full amount required, you will need to be able to demonstrate the outstanding funds by alternative means (such as a bank statement).

You will need an ATAS certificate if you are doing a PhD or Master’s degree in certain subjects (apart from exempt nationalities) most of which are related to science. 

UEA Admissions will let you know if you need an ATAS certificate for your course. If you need one, you must provide this to the university before we can issue your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) statement.

To apply, you will need information about your course, including the CAH3 code. This will be given to you by Admissions. You will then need to go to the UK Government website and apply online.

The UK Government have guidance on how to fill out the application. The Student Life International team are not trained in ATAS applications, but you can still contact us with any questions you have and we will try our best to help.  If you have any queries on the process or the application, you can contact the ATAS team on ATAS@fcdo.gov.uk.

If you apply between April and September, ATAS applications can take at least 30 working days to complete. Applications are processed in order of receipt and there is no fast-track service, so it is important to prepare early and apply for it as soon as possible.

Once your application has been approved, you will receive your certificate via email. This certificate will be valid for 6 months to use in your Student application. Once it is used in your application, it provides you with clearance for the whole period of your study as outlined on your CAS statement.

If any of your documentation is not in English or Welsh, including any financial evidence, you will need to provide translations of these alongside the originals. Guidance on translations can be found by clicking here (scroll to the ‘Translations’ dropdown).

Translations should be fully certified by a professional translator and must include the following details:

• Details of the translator's credentials

• Confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document

• The translator's contact details

• The date and original signature of the translator

If you are unsure of anything or would like your documents checked, you can contact Student Life International on studentlife.international@uea.ac.uk.

The nationals of some countries can apply under 'differentiation arrangements', which means you will not need to provide financial or qualifications evidence when you first submit your application. However, you must still make sure that you have evidence that you meet the requirements before you submit your visa application, as UKVI retain the right to request this from you at a later stage.

You are a low-risk applicant if you apply for a Student visa (inside or outside the UK), and you have a passport issued by one of the countries or territories listed in paragraph 22.1 of Appendix ST of the Immigration Rules.

You can find further information about supporting documents, and the format these must be in, on UKCISA’s webpage.

You can also email Student Life International if you have any questions.